Abdomen-compressor for trousers



July 29, 1969 L. BACON ETAL 3,457,926

ARDOMEN- COMPRES SOR FOR TROUSERS Filed April 21. 1967 INVENTORS LOUISBACON ROBERT J. TURNER ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,457,926ABDOMEN-COMPRESSOR FOR TROUSERS Louis Bacon, 7 W. 81st St., New York,N.Y. 10024, and

Robert J. Turner, 8 Henhawk Road, Kings Point, N.Y. 11024 Filed Apr. 21,1967, Ser. No. 632,661 Int. Cl. A41c 1/00 US. Cl. 128519 9 ClaimsABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An abdomen-compressor forming part oftrousers having an exterior front fastener and an exterior waist portionextending laterally from the front fastener around the sides of thetrousers to the rear thereof. Inwardly of the exterior waist portion thetrousers have an outer waist band and an inner waist band surrounded byand extending along the outer waist band with the latter situatedbetween the inner waist band and the exterior waist portion. Theabdomen-compressor is fixed to the inner waist band at the region of thesides of the trousers and extends forwardly from the sides to a regionsituated rearwardly of the front fastener.

Background of the invention The present invention relates to trousers.

In particular, the present invention relates to trousers provided with astructure capable of compressing the abdomen of the wearer of thetrousers to support the Wall of the abdomen and to reduce the size ofthe waist of the wearer of the trousers as well as to improve theposture and general appearance of the wearer of the trousers.

While there are known structures of this generaal type, the knownstructures suffer from several drawbacks. Thus, the known structuresprovide undesirable wrinkling of the trousers at the exterior thereof.In addition, these known structures unavoidably provide the trouserswith interior wrinkles at the waist portion which render the trousersuncomfortable to wear. Furthermore, the abdomen-compressing structure isrequired to slip with respect to the surrounding waist structure of thetrousers in order to achieve the desired effect, and because of thefriction between the abdomen-compressing structure and the rest of thewaist structure of the trousers the required slippage does not alwaystake place in the required manner, with the result that the structuredoes not operate properly. Furthermore, with the known structures thedesired effects are not always achieved for other reasons. For example,some known structures hug the wearer at the sides of the waist over thehips and do not produce the required inward force at the front abdominalwall. Also, the known structures, particularly after they are worn for awhile, become stretched out and are no longer capable of achieving thedesired effect.

tion to provide trousers having an abdomen-compressing structure whichwill avoid all of the above drawbacks.

ice

In particular, it is an object of the invention to provide trousers witha built-in abdomen-compressing structure forming a permanent part of thetrousers but at the same time avoiding any possibility of exteriorwrinkling of the trousers.

In addition, it is an object of the invention to provide trousers of theabove type which will avoid the presence of interior wrinkled surfaceswhich might be uncomfortable to the wearer.

Furthermore, it is an object of the invention to provide a structure ofthe above type which will reliably retain its capability of sliding withrespect to the remainder of the trousers so that the desired effect willbe reliably achieved.

Also, it is an object of the invention to provide a structure which willnot become undesirably stretched to such an extent that a permanentincrease in length occurs and the desired effect can no longer beachieved.

Furthermore, it is an object of the invention to provide a structurewhich will be felt by the wearer in such a way that the wearer will beencouraged to retract the abdominal wall.

Also, it is an object of the invention to provide a structure which willnot produce any bulges or the like at the exterior of the trousers sothat the exterior appearance of the trousers will not be undesirablyinfluenced by the structure of the invention.

In accordance with the invention, the trousers have a front fastener atthe exterior thereof and an exterior waist portion extending laterallyfrom the front fastener around the sides to the rear of the trousers. Anouter waist band is surrounded by the exterior waist portion of thetrousers while an inner waist band is surrounded by the outer waste bandwith the latter situated between the inner waist band and the exteriorwaist portion of the trousers. An abdomen-compressing means of theinvention is fixed to the inner waist band and extends from the regionof opposed side portions thereof to the front of the trousers. Thisabdomen-compressing means includes a pair of elongated webs having rearend portions rfixed to the inner waist band and extending freely fromtheir rear end portions to the front of the trousers where an innerfastener of the abdomen-compressing means is capable of fastening thewebs thereof to each other at a region behind the front exteriorfastener of the trousers. Each of these webs has an elongated, elastic,stretchable portion situated forwardly of the location where the web isfastened to the inner waist band so as to be freely stretchable and thusachieve the desired compression of the abdomen. The inner waist band isformed between the opposed sides of the trousers and the front thereofwith a pair of interruptions through which the webs of theabdomen-compressing means extend, these webs being fixed at their rearportions to the inner waist band while also being situated between theinner waist band and the outer waist band, so that in this way the pairof waist bands forms tunnels for receiving the rear portions of thewebs, these webs extending through the interruptions in the inner waistband to be exposed at the interior portion of the trousers at the rearof the front exterior portion thereof. An inner lining covers the innerwaist band and is itself formed with interruptions respectively alignedwith the interruptions of the inner waist band, so that the webs of theabdomen-compressing means extends through the interruptions of the innerwaist band and the inner lining to be exposed at the interior frontportion of the trousers. Each web preferably has its elongatedstretchable portion situated within the tunnel formed between the innerand outer waist bands and has a substantially non-stretchable fabricportion extending forwardly from the elastic portion through theinterruptions in the inner waist band and inner lining to be exposed atthe interior front portion of the trousers, so that in this way thesesubstantially non-stretchable fabric portions are capable of slidingeasily through the interruptions in the inner waist band and innerlining while maintaining the elastic portions within the tunnel in whichthey are free to expand and contract.

Brief description of the drawings The invention is illustrated by way ofexample in the accompanying drawings which form part of thisapplication, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of trousers provided with thestructure of the invention, the trousers being shown in FIG. 1 as theyappear when looking toward the inner front portion of the trousers fromthe rear thereof and through the waist portion of the trousers.

FIG. 2 is a sectional plan view taken along line 22 of FIG. 1 in thedirection of the arrows and showing the structure of FIG. 1 on a scalewhich is greatly enlarged as compared to FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a sectional elevation taken along line 33 of FIG. 2, in thedirection of the arrows.

Description of a preferred embodiment Referring now to the drawings, thetrousers 10 illustrated therein have an exterior front fastener 12 andan exterior waist portion 14 extending laterally from the front fastener12 around the sides of the trousers to the rear thereof. This frontfastener 12 may take the form of a conventional slide fastener coveredby a fly-front of the trousers.

The trousers 10 include an outer waist band 16 located next to andsurrounded by the exterior waist portion 14. Also, the trousers 10include an inner waist band 18 which is surrounded by the outer waistband 16. An inner lining 20 covers the inner waist band 18.

The trousers 10 of the invention are provided with anabdomen-compressing means 22 composed of a pair of elongated webs 24aand 24b. The webs 24a and 24b respectively have rear elongated,stretchable elastic portions 26a and 26b and front elongatedsubstantially nonstretchable fabric portions 28a and 28b. At the leftside region of the trousers, as viewed in FIG. 2, the elastic portion26a of the web 24a is fastened to the inner web 18 by a pair of lines ofstitches 30a and 32a, while at the right side portion of the trousers,the rear elastic portion 26b of the web 2412 is fastened to the innerweb 18 by a pair of lines of stitches 30b and 32!). It will be notedthat these elastic portions 26a and 26b extend forwardly through aconsiderable distance beyond the forward lines of stitches 32a and 321)so that they have a substantial elongated length capable of beingstretched, and at their front ends these freely stretchable portions arejoined by stitches 34a and 34b to the substantially non-stretchable webportions 28a and 28b, respectively.

It will be noted, furthermore, that the rear elastic portions 26a and26b of the webs 24a and 24b are fastened t the inner waist band 18 at alocation situated between the inner waist band 18 and the outer waistband 16. The inner waist band 18 is formed with a left interruption 36athrough which the fabric portion 28a of the web 24a extends to beexposed at the interior front portion of the trousers, while the innerwaist band 18 is formed at the right side of the trousers with aninterruption 36b through which the fabric web portion 28b extends to beexposed at the interior front portion of the trousers. In addition, theinner lining 20 is formed with an interrup- 4 tion 38a aligned with theinterruption 36a and through which the web portion 28a extends, whilethe lining 20 is also formed, at the right side of the trousers, with aninterruption 38b aligned with the interruption 36b and through which theweb portion 28b extends.

Thus, it will be seen that with this construction a pair of tunnels 40aand 40b are formed between the inner and outer waist bands .and in whichthe elongated elastic portions 26a and 2617 are respectively housed. Thefabric portions 28a and 28b extend from the interior to the exterior ofthe tunnels through the interruptions in the inner waist band and innerlining, so that in this way the elongated stretchable portions 26a and26b of the .abdomen-compressing means 22 remain at all times within thetunnels in which they can readily stretch while the fabric substantiallynon-stretchable web portions 28a and 28b are capable of sliding easilywith respect to the lining 20 and inner waist band 18 through theinterruptions thereof.

The abdomen-compressing means 22 further includes an inner fastener 42situated in the region behind the front exterior fastener 12. The webportions 28a and 28b overlap each other at their inner free ends wherethey are joined together by the inner fastener 42. This inner fastener42 in the illustrated example takes the form of a plurality of buttons44 attached to the web portion 28a and extending through buttonholes 46,respectively, which are formed the web portion 28b. When these webportions are fastened to each other the buttons 44 are located at theinner surface of the web portion 28b and are directed toward the abdomenof the wearer while at the outer surface of the web portion 28a thereare no bulges which might be visible at the exterior of the trousers. Inaddition, this construction tends to make the wearer of the trousers 10aware of the presence of the buttons 44 which are directed toward theabdominal wall so as to encourage the wearer to retract his adbomeninwardly away from the buttons 44.

It will thus be seen that with the structure of the invention, when thetrousers are worn and the inner fastener 42 connects the webs 24a and24b of the abdomencompressing means of the invention together, the innerwaist band 18 at the part thereof which extends rearwardly from thestitches 30a and 30b around the rear of the waist portion of thetrousers is pulled by the stretched elastic portions 26a and 26b and bythe non-stretchable web portions 28a and 28b so that theabdomen-compressing means of the invention together with the part of theinner waist band 18 situated to the rear of the stitches 30a and 30b hugand compress the wearer around his waist, compressing the abdomeninwardly and causing the wearer to draw his abdomen in away from theinner fastener 42, thus providing in this way support for the abdomen aswell as improving the posture and general appearance of the wearer.

In addition, it will be noted that there can be no wrinkling at theexterior of the trousers 10. The reason for this is that the exteriorwaist portion 14 and the outer waist band 16 remain completelyuninfiuenced by the structure of the invention. If anything, thestructure of the invention serves to fit the waist of the wearer to thewaist portions 14 and 16 which remain completely unwrinkled by thestructure of the invention. Moreover, the structure of the invention isexceedingly comfortable to wear and does not provide any undesirableinterior appearance because of the covering achieved by way of the innerlining 20. The tension which is provided with the structure of theinvention is uninterrupted all the way around the waist of the wearer.Furthermore, the tunnels 40a and 40b enclose the elastic portions 26aand 26b to protect the latter and to maintain the ready slidabilitythereof while the fabric portions 28a and 28b of the webs 24a and 24bare the only parts thereof which are exposed, are capable of slidingeasily into and out of the tunnels, and are exceedingly comfortable tothe wearer.

What is claimed is:

1. For use with trousers having an exterior front fastener and anexterior waist portion extending laterally from said fastener along thefront and sides of the trou sers to the rear thereof, an outer waistband situated adjacent and surrounded by said exterior waist portion, aninner waist band extending along and surrounded by said outer waist bandwith the latter situated between said inner waist band and said exteriorwaist portion, and abdomen-compressing means fixed to said inner waistband and including a pair of substantially identical elongated websrespectively fixed to said inner waist band at the region of the sidesof the trousers and extending frwardly to a location behind saidexterior fastener, said abdomen-compressing means including an interiorfastener for fastening said webs to each other substantially in theregion behind said exterior fastener and each web having between thelocation where it is fixed to said inner waist band and said innerfastener an elongated, longitudinally stretchable, elastic portion sothat when said webs are fastened to each other by said inner fastenersaid stretchable portions thereof will be stretched to providecompression of the abdomen.

2. The combination of claim 1 and wherein each of said webs has a rearelongated stretchable portion connected to said inner waist band andextending freely forwardly therefrom to be stretchable forwardly of thefastening of the web to the inner waist band and a front nonstretchablefabric portion fixed to and extending forwardly from the rearstretchable portion to the inner fastener.

3. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said webs of saidabdomen-compressing means are fixed to said inner waist band atlocations situated between said inner and outer waist bands.

4. The combination of claim 3 and wherein said inner waist band isformed at opposite sides of said front exterior fastener and between thelatter and the sides of the trousers with a pair of interruptionsthrough which said webs extend to be exposed at the interior of thetrousers inwardly of the inner waist band, whereby through saidinterruptions in said inner waist band said webs extend into the spacebetween the inner waist band and the outer waist band to provide fromsaid inner and outer waist bands tunnels into which rear portions ofsaid webs extend.

5. The combination of claim 4 and wherein an inner lining covers saidinner waist band.

6. The combination of claim 5 and wherein said inner lining is formedwith interruptions which are respectively aligned with saidinterruptions of said inner waist band, and said webs of saidabdomen-compressing means extending through the interruptions of saidinner waist band and said inner lining to be exposed at the interior ofthe trousers behind the front waist portion thereof.

7. The combination of claim 6 and wherein each web includes a rearelastic portion fastened at a pair of spaced locations to said innerwaist band at the region of the side of the trousers and an elongatedelastic portion extending freely from said pair of spaced locationsforwardly toward the interruptions in the waist band but terminatingbehind said interruptions between the latter and the side of thetrousers, and elongated substantially non-stretchable web portionshaving rear ends fixed to said stretchable elastic portions andextending therefrom through said interruptions in the inner waist bandand inner lining so that the stretchable portion of each web is situatedwithin the tunnel while the non-stretchable portion thereof extends fromthe interior of the tunnel through the interruptions to the exteriorthereof to be exposed at the interior of the trousers.

8. The combination of claim 7 and wherein said inner fastener includesfastening elements for fastening together front overlapping portions ofsaid webs of said abdomencompressing means, and said fastening elementsbeing exposed .at the interior of said abdomen-compressing means anddirected toward the abdomen of the wearer.

9. The combination of claim 8 and wherein one of said overlapping frontportions is formed with openings while the other of said overlappingfront portions carries said fastening elements which extend through saidopenings to be exposed at the interior surface of saidabdomen-compressing means, whereby the exterior surface of saidabdomen-compressing means which is directed toward said front exteriorfastener of the trousers is smooth while the fastener elementsthemselves are felt by the abdomen to promote retraction of the latter.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Re. 26,360 3/1968 Pagano 128--5l92,481,396 9/1949 Cohen 128-519 3,185,158 5/1965 Gattuso 128519 ADELE M.EAGER, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R.

